ID Protect FAQs

What is ID Protect?

International rules require that valid contact information—known as Whois—is available for every domain name. ID Protect cloaks your identity and provides proxy contact information in the Whois.

ID Protect also reduces spam. In your cloaked Whois information, we provide a proxy email address that changes several times a year. We forward email sent to the proxy address, but when the proxy address changes, spam sent to the old address bounces.

Why is my personal information available when I purchase a domain name?

International rules require that valid contact information be provided for all domain names, and that it be accessible worldwide. ID Protect provides valid contact information that satisfies the international requirements without exposing your personal contact information to worldwide scrutiny.

What personal information is displayed in domain name Whois, and how do people find it?

Domain name Whois displays name, address, and email address. Anyone anywhere can search the Whois database through any search engine and many other web sites.

ID Protect provides proxy information instead of your personal contact information. Parties who want to contact you use the proxy information, and we forward to you.

How does ID Protect help reduce spam?

Domain name Whois is a principal source of email addresses for spammers. If your domain name has ID Protect, we change the Whois email address several times a year. Spammers harvest and use one Whois email address, but once we change it that source of spam is cut off.

What if someone sends something to the Whois Privacy Protection Service postal address?

For mail which does not appear to be unsolicited commercial mail, the Whois Privacy Protection Service may either forward the mail to you or fax a page of the communication. The Service will not forward junk mail, nor will it forward mail if it becomes apparent that you provided the Whois Privacy Protection address to third parties.